Tabla de contenidos para December/January 2020-21 en Handguns

Keeping It Real Richard Nance’s column on “Real-World Skills” is one of the best I’ve read in any publication in a long time. While I appreciate all the work that goes into other articles, I thrilled to finally read one that’s “real.” I served as a police officer and a detective for over 32 years in a major metropolitan city and a medium-size suburb, so I do know a little bit about carrying and using a handgun for self-defense, and I can honestly say Mr. Nance is right on the mark. The only thing I would add to his fine article is to buy and use as many handguns as you like, but when it comes to carrying a handgun, stay with one system. GARY PROVENZANO, NORTH READING, MA Goin’…

IF YOU’VE EVER PARTICIPATED IN AN ACtion pistol competition, you’ll probably agree that regardless of how you fared, it was an enjoyable and educational experience. Competing is a great way to gauge your skill level and get used to performing under a bit of pressure. But how relevant is sport shooting to the street? First, let’s consider the many skills that are transferable from sport shooting to defensive shooting. Perhaps the most obvious and most important consideration is gun handling. Performing well in action pistol shooting requires you to become highly proficient at running your gun. Competing and training to compete will undoubtedly improve such things as your draw stroke, reloads, malfunction clearing and other skills. Depending on the type of match, you may even be reinforcing such habits as…

I clearly remember the first time I fired the HK VP9. I was attending a premiere for the film Jurassic World in Bozeman, Montana, an event set up by Crimson Trace, whose lasers feature heavily in that film. Following the premiere, we spent time on the shooting range using laser-equipped pistols, and those lasers were attached to a new striker-fired pistol from HK: the VP9. That VP9 was one of the most refined, well-rounded pistols I’d shot. The ergonomics were great, build quality was superb, and accuracy was outstanding. Even with a price tag that was $100 or more higher than some competing models, I thought the VP9 would be a winner. I was certain a competition model would follow. HK did offer a replacement long-slide assembly with a five-inch…

Those familiar with Norse mythology will recognize the name Ymir as the first giant created by the gods, a being formed when the heat of fire and the chill of ice collided. Those familiar with 1911s will recognize Ymir as the name of Brian Lohman’s new custom 1911 pistol. It’s a bold move to borrow the name of a demigod for your first custom firearm. But it might not be as bold as what Lohman is trying to accomplish with the Ymir. There are, after all, a lot of 1911s out there, and there are a lot of custom builders who have set the bar quite high for the modern interpretation of Browning’s original design. At the very least, the Ymir is aiming to challenge those guns and even surpass…

YOU HAVE TO HAND IT TO DAN WESSON. The guy had guts. Born into a family with the name Wesson—of Smith & Wesson fame—he worked for that company for more 30 years until new management took over. Not happy with the new owners, Dan struck out on his own in 1968 with the intention of producing something different in the way of a traditional revolver. In August 1970, he did just that. Armed with a clean sheet of paper, he wanted a firearm that would exhibit high-quality workmanship and be of a design not seen before, with a wide selection of calibers, interchangeable barrels, sights and grips. While his early effort was deemed ugly because of its bulging barrel nut, his gun eventually became a true work of art. Dan’s…

HANDGUNS.COM | ARTICLES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED Magazine Rules A recent email asking whether it’s okay to leave magazines loaded for extended periods (it is) reminded us of a piece we ran a decade ago. It concluded with six rules of magazine care. 1 Keep oil away from them 2 Don’t stretch the springs 3 Leave the lips alone 4 Some drops can damage a mag 5 Sand and mud are the enemy CONTACT US EMAIL Handguns@OutdoorSG.com INSTAGRAM, TWITTER @HandgunsMag FACEBOOK facebook.com/HandgunsMag SNAIL MAIL Handguns, P.O. Box 271245, Fort Collins, CO 80527 ADDRESS CHANGES! SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS! EMAIL HGScuStServ@CDSfulfillment.com SNAIL MAIL Handguns, P.O. Box 37539, Boone, IA 50037-0539…

SIMPLE DRILLS ARE GOOD, AND THEY’RE even better when they teach or reinforce a number of skills. This drill does just that, working on accuracy, speed, changing speeds and target acquisition. GEAR Gun capable of holding at least eight rounds DRILL Place two target stands seven yards downrange. Staple a 3x5 index card at the top of the backer and a paper plate in the center of the backer—labeling the left target “A” and the right target “B.” From the holster or the Ready position of your choice, engage the targets with two shots each in this order: index card A, paper plate B, paper plate A, index card B. Essentially, you’re shooting in an X pattern, hence the name. Then do the reverse, starting on index card B, followed…

DAN WESSON TACTICAL COMPACT The Tactical Compact Pistol or TCP features an aluminum alloy frame and four-inch match-grade bull barrel. It’s a handy carry gun with a weight of 32 ounces and an overall length of 7.6 inches. Sights are a U-notch rear and brass-bead front. The single-slot rail permits attachment of a light or laser, and the new G10 grips are slim at the top and full width at the bottom, so anyone can reach the trigger with ease. The flat-wire recoil spring is rated for 15,000 rounds. Available in 9mm and .45. {$1,700 (9mm), $1,725 (.45); CZ-USA.COM } BALANCE HOLSTERS An open-muzzle design, the Balance inside-the-waistband (shown) and outside-the-waistband holsters are made of Kydex. The IWB features adjustable cant between 0 to 15 degrees, and the OWB cant…

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I REVIEWED THE 856 Ultra-Lite—a successor to the Model 85 with six shots instead of five—and came away impressed by the inexpensive but good-shooting snubnose revolver. Recently, Taurus came out with a three-inch version, the Defender, and it is equally impressive. This particular model is an aluminum-framed Ultra-Lite, one of two such guns in the sixgun 856 Defender lineup. These weigh 17.5 ounces, half of what the four all-steel models weigh. Overall length is 7.5 inches, and the width across the fluted steel cylinder is 1.4 inches. I think the most outstanding feature on the 856 Defender is the front sight. While the rear is simply a gutter milled into the backstrap, the front is a day/ night sight, which is not something you expect to…

LOCKDOWN IS KNOWN FOR OFFERING A variety of innovative, user-friendly products for firearms owners, but the company has raised the bar with its new Puck. On the surface, the Puck looks rather unexceptional. It’s a small plastic square with magnets on the rear side and a trio of air vents. But this device’s capabilities seem almost endless. Most importantly, the Puck is a critical tool that helps you protect your firearms and valuables even when you’re away from home. How does it work? Good question, but you won’t find an instruction manual in the box. Instead, once you download the free Lockdown Logic app and set up an account, it will walk you through the entire process. Before you balk at what you think might be overwhelming technology, the Lockdown…

RELIABILITY MAKES OR BREAKS A firearm, and the magazine is the heart of a pistol’s reliability. If the magazine isn’t reliable, the pistol isn’t reliable. With a design as old as the 1911, however, that’s not the whole story. Now well over a century old, the original magazines for the 1911 worked just fine with the ammunition that pistol was designed for and around: .45 ACP 230-grain full-metal-jacket “ball” ammo. These days, however, we want our 1911s to feed hollowpoint ammo reliably. If that wasn’t enough of a handicap to overcome, many modern consumers have increasingly come to love 1911s chambered in 9mm, a cartridge that is significantly shorter and narrower than the .45 ACP, making it a completely different animal to deal with. I’ll start with .45 magazines. The…

THE PMR30 HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST successful pistols in KelTec’s lineup since it was introduced in 2010. A .22 Magnum handgun that weighs just 15.4 ounces unloaded, fed by 30-round magazines, with a good trigger and great sights, all for less than $500? Of course it’s been hugely popular. The PMR30 is a polymer-framed, hammer-fired pistol with a futuristic look. It sports a 4.3-inch barrel and is 7.9 inches long and 5.8 inches tall. At first glance you might think it has a fixed barrel, but in fact the barrel reciprocates slightly, although it does not tilt. If you check out the KelTec website, you’ll see that if you order a PMR30 from the company you can get it in any color you want as long as it’s…